Archives for February 3, 2020

On our safari trip today in Nakuru, Kenya, we came upon a group of zebras on the road, so we stopped and our driver George turned the engine off. We sighted a family of giraffes off to the right. Suddenly the zebras spooked and ran off behind us. Then the giraffes took off running—almost floating it seemed. We heard a low rumbling. Suddenly, dozens of impala came racing by. And then a number of monkeys, and they didn’t seem to know which way to run. The rumble grew louder, as about a hundred water buffalo came thundering by. Most were off to our right but a bunch crossed the road in front of us. A few paused to gaze at us. George said, “I don’t like this. This stampede can be bad.” Nonetheless, it was truly exhilarating!

Within five minutes, all the excitement subsided. As we sighed and moved on, we looked for what might have caused the stampede, but found nothing. We were truly amazed to see these hundreds of powerful creatures that God has created running at full speed right past us! You don’t want to miss this short video! Watch and then praise our amazing Creator!

Since the Leaders’ Conference does not start until tomorrow here in Nakuru, Kenya, we (Conrad Mbewe, the Paulks, the pastor’s wife Margaret, and our 1990 Toyota Land Rover driver George, and the Queen and I) went on a safari today—and did it ever prove to be exhilarating!

Lake Nakuru National Park is a shallow alkaline lake in the Great Rift Valley. It is known for being home to thousands of flamingos, which we saw from a distance. We saw many other animals and scores of stunningly beautiful birds as well. The most common were warthogs, zebras, impalas, water buffalos, and giraffes. We were able to get close to nearly all of them. One of the highlights was a white rhino that came dangerously close to the car right in front of us. But the most exciting part I will save for the next post a few hours from now!

On Lord’s Day morning, I preached on “Who Can Meet All Our Needs?” (Luke 22:31-32) to about 750 people in Nakuru, Kenya at the “AIC (Africa Inland Church) Shabab” (see the pictures of the church and of the attendees). From there, Pastor Isaac drove us fifteen minutes in Nakuru to his own church which is called the “AIC Section 58.” There I preached on “Paul’s Assurance of God’s Inseparable Love in Christ” (Rom. 8:34, 38-39) to about 400 people. Both services, as is typical of so many churches in Africa, had lots of expressive singing. For example, in the second service, I didn’t start preaching until 1¾ hours into the service, so the entire service lasted 2½ hours! Nonetheless, the people seem to listen very well and drink in the word of God. Most encouraging is the large number of young people and children in these churches.

The AIC was founded by Peter Scott Cameroon in 1895. Many of its churches throughout Africa were originally planted by the Southern Baptists of America. Many AIC churches, including the two I served, have become increasingly Reformed in theology but remain eclectic in their form of church government. Presently the AIC in Africa is divided into 27 regions, each of which is presided over by a bishop and an assistant bishop. Pastor Isaac, who is hosting us and introduces me as one of his former professors since he took my course on Reformed Experiential Preaching at John MacArthur’s church in Los Angeles, is one of the assistant bishops. That part of his work involves an average of one day’s worth of work per week. For the rest of the week, he is serving his local church.

After the two services were concluded, Mary gave an address to the women on “Blooming in Your Church Garden.” From there we shared two meals (2:30 and 7:30 p.m.!) and good fellowship with Isaac and Margaret, and Schel and Shawn. Thus concluded our unforgettable, first Lord’s Day in our lives in Kenya, Africa. Pray that God will continue to add His blessing on this journey.